1. Peter Black, Queensland University of Technology p2.black@qut.edu.au http://freedomtodiffer.typepad.com/ p2.black@qut.edu.au http://freedomtodiffer.typepad.com/ To Blog or Not to Blog: The role of blogs in legal academia

2. Commentary or news

3. On food

4. On politics

5. On music

6. Personal diaries

7. Academic blogs

8. Blogs by academics

10. Blogs about law by lawyers

11. Blogs about law by law students

12. Outline The expanding blogosphere Blogs and legal scholarship Advantages of blogging Disadvantages of blogging Blogs in teaching and learning law

13. The expanding blogosphere Blogs have exerted considerable influence in the US. Monica Lewinksy. 2004 Presidential election. In the US, 5.7% of assistant professors blog and 3% of tenured professors blog. Blogs have been cited in law reviews and in judicial opinions.

14. Blogs and legal scholarship Reasons why the internet may be important to legal scholarship: 1. The internet age demands instant responses. 2. Open source revolution. 3. Google and full-text searching. 4. Disintermediation (declining influence of scholarly intermediaries). 5. Lifting the cone of silence. 6. Globalisation of the dissemination of legal scholarship. 7. eBayisation of legal scholarship (changing the marketplace of ideas). (See Lawrence B Solum’s Legal Theory Blog)Legal Theory Blog

15. Advantages of blogging 1. Tool for disseminating scholarship. 2. Means of engaging in a more robust and diverse scholarly debate. 3. Means of reconnecting legal scholarship to teaching and service. 4. Raises academic profile.

16. Advantages of blogging 5. Means of reaching practitioners. 6. Capacity to influence courts. 7. Immediate feedback. 8. Keep up to date with scholarly trends.

17. Disadvantages of blogging 1. Poor platform for serious scholarship. 2. Time spent blogging. 3. Magnifies your personality. 4. Inviting controversy. 5. Making mistakes.

18. Blogs in teaching and learning law Academic blogging can aid in the teaching and learning of law. Features of a blog as a learning aid: Links to news stories; Links to recently decided cases; Links to interesting/fun legal sites; Links to other blogs; Opinions/views of lecturer(s); Comments.

19. Blogs in teaching and learning law Blogs can be used to approach a style of meta-learning. Educational benefits of a blog: 1. Contextualises the subject matter; 2. Reinforces core content; 3. Continues learning outside the classroom;

20. Blogs in teaching and learning law Educational benefits of a blog continued: 4. Provides additional opportunity for debate and discussion; 5. Gives English as a second language students an opportunity to participate in debate and discussion; 6. Opens discussion to a broader audience; 7. Serves as an archive of knowledge, creating an institutional history.

21. Blogs in teaching and learning law Are law students responsive to learning through blogs? Two surveys: 1. Students in LWN117 Legal Regulation of the Internet. 10 LL.M. students surveyed unit blog 2. Students in LWB141 Legal Institutions and Method. 58 first year students surveyed no unit blog

22. Survey of LWN117 Legal Regulation of the Internet Q2: How often did you access the Legal Regulation of the Internet blog?

23. Survey of LWN117 Legal Regulation of the Internet Q3: The Legal Regulation of the Internet blog stimulated my interest in the unit. Q4: The Legal Regulation of the Internet blog helped my learning. Q5: The Legal Regulation of the Internet blog encouraged me to think about recent developments in the field.

24. Survey of LWN117 Legal Regulation of the Internet Q6: Overall, the inclusion of the Legal Regulation of the Internet blog in this unit was:

25. Survey of First Year Law Students Q1: Do you have a broadband internet connection at home? Q2: Do you download your law lectures and listen to them on your iPod or mp3 player? Q3: Do you download music or other media through a peer to peer file sharing program? Q4: Do you know what a blog is? (blog literacy) Q5: Do you own a blog or a MySpace page?

26. Survey of First Year Law Students How regularly did you visit the LWB141 Legal Institutions and Method Online Learning and Teaching site?

27. Survey of First Year Law Students A LWB141 blog focusing in recent developments in the law and interesting legal links that also allows you to post comments would help my learning in this unit.

28. Conclusion Blogs can make a valuable contribution to legal scholarship. Blogs can also aid student learning. Blogs allow academics to use technology to engage with the law and with students.

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